scholarly journals Challenges and instructors’ intention to adopt and use open educational resources in higher education in Tanzania

2014 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joel Samson Mtebe ◽  
Roope Raisamo
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Open Educational Resources ◽  
Educational Resources ◽  
The Public ◽  
Intention To Adopt ◽  
Use Of Technology ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Facilitating Conditions ◽  
Learning Institutions

<p>Higher education in Tanzania like in many other Sub-Saharan countries suffers from unavailability of quality teaching and learning resources due to lack of tradition, competence, and experience to develop such resources. Nevertheless, there are thousands of open educational resources (OER) freely available in the public domain that can potentially improve the quality of existing resources or help to develop new courses. The uptake and reuse of these resources in higher learning institutions (HLIs) in Tanzania has been very low. The study applied the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) model to elicit instructors’ intention to adopt and use OER in teaching. The paper also investigated challenges that hinder instructors to adopt and use OER. A sample of 104 instructors selected randomly from five HLIs was collected and tested against the research model using regression analysis. The study found effort expectancy had significant positive effect on instructors’ intention to use OER while performance expectancy, facilitating conditions, and social influence did not have significant effect. Challenges that were found to hinder instructors to adopt and use OER are discussed. The findings of this study will help those who are involved in OER implementation to find strategies that will maximize OER adoption and usage in higher education in Tanzania.</p>

scholarly journals Challenges for implementing open educational resources by teachers in higher education

2018 ◽  
Vol 325 ◽  
pp. 479-490
Author(s):  
Roza Dumbraveanu
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Digital Divide ◽  
Educational Philosophy ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Teaching Experience ◽  
Fair Use ◽  
Open Educational Resources ◽  
Educational Resources ◽  
European Universities ◽  
Teachers Training

Higher Education Institutions (HEI) are facing a number of problems during the last decades: the need to update the curricula to make it compatible with the similar ones from other national and European universities; demand to update the content and the pedagogical approach due to knowledge, technological and research development. Open Educational Resources (OER) might be a sound strategy for institutions to meet these challenges. At the same time OER are themselves one of the challenges that the teachers are faced with. OER could be implemented in courses in different ways, depending on the types of OER and the educational philosophy adopted by the teachers. The paper describes some challenges for implementing Open Educational Resources by teachers in Higher Education in Moldova: the level of awareness on availability and usage of OER; fair use matters; quality assurance of resources; pedagogical approaches for implementing OER into teaching and learning. The paper also grasps the issues of the digital divide that emerge when investigating these challenges. The judgment is based on the literature analysis and on the author’s teaching experience within courses for initial and continuous professional teachers’ training.

Sharing higher education learning and teaching resources in art, design and media

2010 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 35-39
Author(s):  
Stephen Mallinder ◽  
Debbie Flint
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Online Teaching ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Open Educational Resources ◽  
Educational Resources ◽  
Teaching Resources ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Art Design ◽  
The Uk

Wider social, cultural and technological changes are precipitating transformations in higher education. There is increasing need for universities and specialist colleges to operate effectively in a global online environment. The development of accessible and re-usable online teaching and learning materials has provided challenges to staff and institutions. This article explores aspects of the UK Open Educational Resources Programme and, in particular, the Art Design and Media Open Educational Resources (ADM-OER) Project which has sought to examine the processes, challenges and opportunities open educational resources (OERs) present to these ‘creative’ disciplines. Part of the project has explored art, design and media tutors’ perceptions of the shift to ‘teaching in public’ and we share some preliminary findings.

scholarly journals A case study investigation of academic library support for open educational resources in Scottish universities

2019 ◽  
Vol 52 (3) ◽  
pp. 685-693
Author(s):  
Seth D. Thompson ◽  
Adrienne Muir
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Academic Libraries ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Higher Education Institutions ◽  
Academic Library ◽  
Open Educational Resources ◽  
Educational Resources ◽  
Institutional Commitment ◽  
Case Study Methodology

The aim of the research was to investigate why and how Scottish university libraries support open educational resources and to assess their ability to provide support services for their development and use within higher education institutions. There has been little research on the role of academic libraries in supporting open educational resources in Scotland and previous research found that there is a lack of awareness of them in Scottish higher education institutions and few have open educational resources policies. The case study methodology therefore involved two Scottish academic libraries providing open educational resources services. The libraries’ motivation includes supporting teaching and learning and the development of educator digital skills and copyright knowledge. However, there are a number of barriers limiting the services the libraries are able to provide, particularly lack of human resources. The research confirmed the findings of previous research on the importance of institutional commitment, incentives for educator engagement, and understanding of copyright and licensing issues by educators and library staff.

scholarly journals Investigating perceived barriers to the use of open educational resources in higher education in Tanzania

2014 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joel S. Mtebe ◽  
Roope Raisamo
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Rapid Development ◽  
Open Educational Resources ◽  
Educational Resources ◽  
Perceived Barriers ◽  
Quality Of Education ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
The Past ◽  
Sub Saharan

<p>The past few years have seen increasingly rapid development and use of open educational resources (OER) in higher education institutions (HEIs) in developing countries. These resources are believed to be able to widen access, reduce the costs, and improve the quality of education. However, there exist several challenges that hinder the adoption and use of these resources. The majority of challenges mentioned in the literature do not have empirically grounded evidence and they assume Sub-Saharan countries face similar challenges. Nonetheless, despite commonalities that exist amongst these countries, there also exists considerable diversity, and they face different challenges. Accordingly, this study investigated the perceived barriers to the use of OER in 11 HEIs in Tanzania. The empirical data was generated through semi-structured interviews with a random sample of 92 instructors as well as a review of important documents. Findings revealed that lack of access to computers and the Internet, low Internet bandwidth, absence of policies, and lack of skills to create and/or use OER are the main barriers to the use of OER in HEIs in Tanzania. Contrary to findings elsewhere in Africa, the study revealed that lack of trust in others’ resources, lack of interest in creating and/or using OER, and lack of time to find suitable materials were not considered to be barriers. These findings provide a new understanding of the barriers to the use of OER in HEIs and should therefore assist those who are involved in OER implementation to find mitigating strategies that will maximize their usage.</p>

Open educational resources and social justice: Potentials and implications for research productivity in higher educational institutions

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 105-124
Author(s):  
Vollan O Ochieng ◽  
Razak M Gyasi
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Social Justice ◽  
Research Productivity ◽  
Higher Education Institutions ◽  
Open Educational Resources ◽  
International Standards ◽  
Educational Resources ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
Competitive Edge ◽  
Learning Institutions

Research is an essential tool for the creation and advancement of knowledge for socio-economic development. Whilst individuals pursue different kinds of education in order to match international standards, employers are keen to recruit employees with needed skills for a competitive edge. Due to the newly existing educational technologies, individuals have been left with insatiable desire to learn more skills, yet, with limited resources. The advent of Open Education (OE) has led to mass retention, use/re-use, redistribution, revision, and remix of open educational resources (OERs) thereby transforming the learning and research landscape in higher learning institutions. This paper analysed the contribution of OERs and social justice (SJ) on research productivity in higher education institutions. A scoping review was adopted for this study to gather extant literature from relevant available databases with the aim of obtaining as much evidence as possible to make a clearer and succinct conclusion. Existing literature provides evidence that OER and SJ principles positively influence production of research outputs in higher education institutions. The main challenges hindering universality of OERs include economic, technical, legal, social, and infrastructural requirements needed for availing OERs to the beneficiaries including learners, educators, learning institutions and governments. Currently, there are many open and free-to-use resources and websites existing on the internet. There is however, need for attitudinal change towards OERs among students, academics, and scholars among other stakeholders if its optimum uptake is to be realized.

scholarly journals Model of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Acceptance and Use for Teaching Staff in Sub-Saharan Africa Public Higher Education Institutions

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 101 ◽  
Author(s):  
Boukary Ouedraogo
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Higher Education Institutions ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Teaching Staff ◽  
Use Of Technology ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Data Survey ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Facilitating Conditions

This article uses data survey on 82 teachers from the University of Ouagadougou and the model of unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) to assess the determinants of acceptance and educational use of ICT by teachers. The paper’s outcomes show that the construct “performance expectancy” of ICT (expected utility and expected results) positively affects the teachers’ acceptance of ICT. Acceptance of ICT and the Internet experience positively affect the educational use of ICT. However, facilitating conditions have a negative effect on these purposes. The Internet experience of teachers has a positive and significant direct effect on their specific use of ICT. These results could help public powers’ decision makers to develop effective policies for introducing ICTs in Higher Education Institutions.

scholarly journals OER Awareness and Use: The Affinity Between Higher Education and K-12

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Constance Blomgren
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Cost Savings ◽  
Learning Opportunities ◽  
Open Educational Resources ◽  
Educational Resources ◽  
Learning Activities ◽  
Teaching Culture ◽  
Open Educational Practices ◽  
K 12

Educators within Higher Education (HE) and K-12 share in the need for high quality educational resources to assist in the pursuit of teaching and learning. Although there are numerous differences between the two levels of education, there are commonalties in the perceptions of the purpose, practical uses, and challenges that abide in the use of Open Educational Resources (OER). Observations made while producing podcasts and videos for OER awareness, use, and championing, form an exposition of the merits of OER for HE and K-12. Benefits include cost-savings in acquiring resources for teaching and learning as well as user-generated content, instructor creativity, and contextualized and responsively timely learning opportunities. Additionally, the teaching culture of K-12 has historically supported the sharing of learning activities and learning resources. At all levels of education, OER awareness requires a deeper understanding of the changes to teaching and learning borne by open educational practices.

1. The Neoliberal Logic of Service-Learning

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Megan Snider Bailey
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Service Learning ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Community Partnerships ◽  
Market Forces ◽  
Community Based ◽  
University Partnerships ◽  
Economic Changes ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Relationship

<?page nr="1"?>Abstract This article investigates the ways in which service-learning manifests within our neoliberal clime, suggesting that service-learning amounts to a foil for neoliberalism, allowing neoliberal political and economic changes while masking their damaging effects. Neoliberalism shifts the relationship between the public and the private, structures higher education, and promotes a façade of community-based university partnerships while facilitating a pervasive regime of control. This article demonstrates that service-learning amounts to an enigma of neoliberalism, making possible the privatization of the public and the individualizing of social problems while masking evidence of market-based societal control. Neoliberal service-learning distances service from teaching and learning, allows market forces to shape university-community partnerships, and privatizes the public through dispossession by accumulation.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document